REDLANDS – A group of parents and advocates concerned with the education of autistic students say they will not stop until they are satisfied with the educational options available to their children.

Seven of them spoke to the Redlands Unified School District Board of Education at its final meeting of the school year. They said the district fails to provide an adequate educational environment for middle and high school students who have the neurological disorder.

“(My 11-year-old daughter) and other kids like her need to have an environment that is not only conducive to learning, but to their emotional and psychological growth as well,” Maggie Finneran told the board. “They need educators who are specifically trained to teach autistic children.”

The parents say autistic children are intelligent beyond their years, but are delayed when it comes to social skills. Possibly more hindering to their educational experience is their propensity to be overwhelmed by confusing environments, clutter, noise, smell and crowds.

Placing autistic students in standard classrooms among the general student population is not the right environment, and can lead to emotional outbursts and breakdowns, parents said.

Not only that, but it leaves the children alone and unhappy, they said.

Melissa Amos and her children moved to Redlands after the death of her husband in 2008. She heard Redlands Unified would be a good place for her now 11-year-old autistic daughter. But her daughter’s first year in the district has been anything but good, she said.

“I have watched her in one year not meet her Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals and she has met them every year for the past seven years,” Amos said. “I’ve seen her miss school, she’s been expelled, she’s been suspended, she has been bullied, she has been told that she has behavior problems.”

“I don’t know what has gone wrong since we’ve been here,” Amos said through tears. “She’s been who she has been for the past seven years. It’s just that she doesn’t have the place to be that person with the support that she needs.”

Other parents expressed similar sentiment and spoke of how their children have been ostracized by their classmates and frequently become physically ill because of the stress they experience at school.

Amos said her daughter has missed more than 30 days of school this year due to illness or behavior issues. She had never missed a day before, Amos said.

Michelle Parker said she is terrified to send her soon-to-be fifth- grader to middle school when the time comes, given all she has heard.

Cheryl Sjostrom, director of special services at the district, said it is working with the parents and is “solution-oriented” and will do everything it can to make sure the needs of all students are met.

She said her department oversees roughly 2,400 students and meets with their guardians at least yearly to assess and develop programs specific to the student’s needs.

“Even two children with the same diagnosis have different and unique needs,” Sjostrom said. “All our services support the child and change as the child changes. Special education is always changing. We all work together to problem-solve.”

At the meeting, Finneran stressed the need for the district to provide the safety of an elementary-style classroom for autistic students through middle and high school.

“They need an uncluttered and unobstructed environment that will eliminate distractions,” Finneran said. “They need daily social and life coaching skills to integrate them into a classroom setting. They need to feel accepted and comfortable. They need freedom from bullying and oppression and support for their insecurities.”

San Bernardino County Board of Education member Gil Navarro had some strong words for the board, whom he instructed to take action and form an appropriate program.

“I’m very disappointed that I have to come here tonight because parents are calling me for help because this board will not assist them,” Navarro said Tuesday. “I don’t understand why you (the board) cannot form a group of staff to work with these parents to determine the needs of these children. If you have an autistic child, you need to look at the manifestations of that individual child.”

Sjostrom said her department is forming a focus group to see how they can better meet the needs of these autistic students and others like them. She said her department wants to meet with the parents and has not ruled out any solutions.